This is the blog of China defense, where professional analysts and serious defense enthusiasts share findings on a rising military power.

Friday, December 23, 2016

Photos of the day: The PLA Army Aviation (LH) inducted it's first Y-9 into service

The PLAAF is not the only military service with fix-wing aircraft. Together with the Naval Aviation, the PLA LH also operates a small batch of light utility aircraft (Y5 and Y-7). Now they are getting a nice Y-9 upgrade to enhance their long-range delivery capacity.

Friday, August 05, 2016

Photos of the day: 15th Airborne corps airdrops in Tibet with Y-9

Monday, August 01, 2016

Now checking in with the Y-9 transport aircraft program

The PLA Daily just released a series of photos confirming that Y-9's
"3-ZBD-03 airborne armored infantry fighting vehicle" capacity. Outside
of dropping ZBD-03s, it can also carry 25 tons of cargo or 132
paratroops. While the Y-20 program is getting all the attention, the
Y-9 is another tool in China's war chest that can call upon to rapidly
reinforce China's remote regions

A Y-9 large transport aircraft airdrops three ZBD-03
airborne armored infantry fighting vehicles during airborne combat
training. An airborne regiment with the PLA Air Force conducted airborne
combat training at the Gobi Desert in the northwest China in late July,
2016, including such subjects as heavy equipment airdrop, logistical
support, parachute skills, fire strike and so forth. (81.cn/ Chen
Lichun)

Sunday, October 07, 2012

Photos of the day: Clear images of Y-9 Transporter in "China Airforce" color

Judging from the recently photos, there is no doubt that the Y-9 project has entered serial production.

Thursday, September 16, 2010

Y-9 project, rebooted.

According to China Aviation News (here) the long delayed first Y-9 prototype is under construction. It is scheduled to perform its maiden flight by 2011.

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Y-9 Tactical Transport Aircraft program back on track?

http://china-defense.blogspot.com/2009/07/y-9-tactical-transport-aircraft-program.html
According to Shanfei’s press release posted on its website (http://www.shanfei.com/xwzx/new/20090713,1.html)
the Y-9 dual-purpose Tactical Transport Aircraft project has been
restarted. Shanfei upper management acknowledged elements that caused
the delay of this important project. They included: unbalanced
department workload, lack of research capability, project planning,
funding, in addition to a shortage of parts, limited parts assembly
lines and final assembly, and limited test flight capabilities. There
were also technology limitations, frequent accidents due to low safety
standards, poor quality control, undefined procedures and poor
production work flows that led to a serious delay of the project.
Here are the words in Shanfei’s press release and judging from the
language used AVIC, Shanfei’s parent company, must be getting hard on
them.

The Y-9 Tactical Transport Aircraft, or YunShuji-9 project, was
reported back in 2001 as an enlarged version of the PLA’s workhorse Y-8
transport: a Chinese version of the C-130 Hercules with an airdrop
payload capability of 20,000kg or 100 paratroopers. The older Y-8 had a
max airdrop payload of 13,200kg. The Y-9 has a built-in RoRo ramp
for quick offloads/airdrops. It will also have a max range of 3000km,
allowing it to reach most of China from Wuhan—the central city in
China and also home to the 15th airborne army. Strategically, this
allows the Chinese military a quick reaction to any trouble spot and
is one of the reasons why the Y-9 project is so important. Also, it
lessens the reliance on Russia for transport aircraft, even though it
is not in the same class as the Russian Il-76’s payload of 50,000 to
88,000kg. But the Y-9 is a homegrown and inexpensive solution that is
capable of dropping armor such as ZBD03/ZLC2000 Airborne Infantry
Fighting Vehicle. The PLA’s order for 36 Il-76s placed in 2005 is
still under negotiation.
Now that the project is seriously behind schedule, it will not be surprising to see management changes take place at Shanfei.